In our world today, it is impossible to escape sports. Whether or not you are actively engaged with sports, they surround us on a day-to-day basis. With “sport viewing and spectatorship… producing more than $20 billion in revenue each year in the United States alone,” (Communication and Sport, 41), it’s no wonder how sports have such heavy pull in regards to construction of identity and fandom. A large number of people grew up either playing or watching sports, regardless of the motives. We interact with sports on a multitude of levels, including but not limited to, actively and passively. Walk into many bars or restaurants and you will observe a variety of sports being televised live, with the majority of them being in close proximity to the location where it is being broadcasted on television. Every person may define fandom in their own way, but each individual creates and develops their particular level of fandom throughout their own experiences, both in playing and consuming.
The sports fan I interviewed was my boyfriend, Nik. I decided to observe Nik’s behavior during a sporting event and interview him after because I knew he deemed himself a big sports fan, and has previously exhibited emotional behavior regarding sporting events he was invested in. Although we are similar in many ways, he had a very different upbringing in relation to sports as I did. He grew up with two younger brothers, both five to eight years younger than him. His father is seen as a “man of the house” and makes the majority of the important decisions. Nik comes from a lower-middle class family, so he did not attend many live sporting events since they were costly to his family. His father is a traditional “man” and showcases hegemonic masculinity, the dominance of men over women. Growing up, Nik always looked up to his father when it came to sports. He stated that he grew up playing football, basketball, volleyball, and baseball, and that his father was his coach for several of the teams he played on for football. He found the most success in football, however, when he earned a scholarship to play at the University of Indianapolis. Almost every time I go over to his family’s house, there is some type of sporting event playing, whether they are watching it actively or just playing it in the background and checking in periodically. Nik considered himself a highly-active and engaged fan in football and basketball, particularly at the professional level. According to the Sports Fan Cultures article by Billings, Butterworth, and Turman, Nik would be deemed a die-hard, otherwise known as vested, sports fan. The article states that a die-hard sports fan “looks forward to the upcoming season with great anticipation, often transforming into different people as they are overcome by the successes and failures of their teams” (Billings, Butterworth, Turman, 2011). The article also describes a vested fan as “a die-hard fan with high levels of emotional attachment and identification to the teams he or she supports” (Billings, Butterworth, Turman, 2011). The interview I conducted was based on a National Football League we attended together on November 11th. The Indianapolis Colts were playing the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. I chose this particular sporting event to observe Nik because I knew he is a big Colts fan as well as an active follower of the NFL. Several days after the game, I sat down with Nik and interviewed him about his experiences with sports, his varying levels of fandom, as well as other topics surrounding sports fandom.
Types of Fans
From the surface, it may seem like all fans are the same. It may seem like all of them are all highly invested in their favorite team, but that is not the case. There are several different types of fans, with each having different motivations for their own particular level of fandom. First, understanding the difference between a fan and a spectator is crucial. According to Cambridge Dictionary, a spectator is “a person who watches an activity, especially a sports event, without actually taking part.” In contrast, a fan is “a person who is very much interested in and spends a lot of time watching or reading about esp. an entertainer or sports team.” In general, fans demonstrate higher levels of knowledge, affect, and viewership than spectators. Throughout the game, Nik showcased each of these characteristics through his behavior. I asked him questions subtly throughout the event in order to determine where he fell on the spectrum for each category. In order to determine his knowledge, I asked him varying questions about players from both teams, as well as general football questions. He was able to answer all of the questions quickly and confidently, as well as providing an in-depth explanation for each question. In order to determine his affective behavior, I simply watched how he reacted to each play, but paid particularly close attention to it during the fourth quarter. The Colts only ended up winning by three points, with a dramatic finish to the game. The Colts were up at halftime, then went scoreless the rest of the game, while Jacksonville scored ten points during the second half. The Colts defense stepped up to the plate, but the Colts still barely scraped away with a win at the end. During crunch time, Nik was nervously sitting at the edge of his seat and would scream and yell if there was a bad play, a poor call by an official, or an exciting play. Some yells were angrier, with him yelling specifically at the officials at times. When the Colts won, he jumped out of his seats and said, “Let’s go horse! That’s MY team!” These changes in his emotion are directly linked to his level of fandom, as a die-hard, vested fan.
Fan Identification
There are many positive features linked to fandom, such as aesthetic beauty, achievement, knowledge, escape from reality, drama, and social connections. Sports spectatorship adds a tremendous amount of value for sports fans everywhere. Some ways that sports fandom contribute positively to society include, goal setting, socialization, providing an emotional outlet, uniting different groups of people, less self-destructive behaviors, and providing a sense of national identity. These different types of fan identification occur on three different levels, with the first being psychological. Psychological, or our emotional and mental connection, stems from our need to feel as if we belong to a distinctive group. “Community affiliation is the most significant correlate of fan identification.” (Handbook of Sports and Media, Sports, the Media, and the Construction of Race, 334). This concept causes fans to feel a strong desire to want to be connected with their team or organization. These types of fans are often referred to as “social fans” who are not necessarily focused on the team as much as they are focused on the relationships surrounding the team. Oftentimes, however, fans may lose some of their own identity while conforming to the sports media norms surrounding their team.
The second type of team identification is environmental, primarily focusing on socialization, direct contact, and proximity. Socialization factors such as parents, friends, family, and other fans of the team can impact how the individual perceives certain sports and teams. When I asked Nik some questions right after the game about why he started following the Colts, who some of his favorite players in the league are, who he has attended Colts games with in the past, and some of his pre-game rituals, the answers all directed back to one thing: his father. “Research by James indicated that fathers have a particularly powerful effect as a socialization agent.” (Handbook of Sports and Media, Sports, the Media, and the Construction of Race, 335). Nik mentioned that he grew up watching the Colts with his father and has attended several Colts games in the past with him as well. They spend Sunday nights in front of the television watching the Colts, or football of some sort. Nik and his dad will switch chairs at halftime if the Colts are losing or not playing well. When I asked him why they always do that he said, “because it’s good luck for the Colts and if we don’t do it, they will lose.” They can also be seen wearing matching Colts socks before any Colts game. Nik’s father got them both a matching pair when Nik was younger and replaced them when Nik grew out of them. If the Colts win, they don’t wash the socks, but if they lose, they wash the socks inside out. When asked about his favorite players in the league, Nik said, “I really like Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Quenton Nelson, and I love Eric Ebron.” I then asked Nik why he loved Eric Ebron so much and he said, “I tried to model some of my playing styles after him when I was a tight end. He plays like I did.” He then proceeded to mention how he follows Ebron on social media, “His Instagram is awesome. Him and his wife and son seem so happy together and they make a cute family. His wife is supposed to have another baby soon and I love their family.” This can be seen as a parasocial relationship with an athlete, as mentioned in the Kassing and Sanderson article. This interaction is defined as “how media users relate to and develop relationships with media personate” (Kassing & Sanderson, 2009). Although Nik does not know Eric Ebron personally, the image he portrays on his Instagram account makes Nik believe they are similar in real life. Direct contact and proximity are two other environmental factors of fan identification. “For instance, Kagan argued that identification increases when the individual has direct contact with a model. This implies that team identification is facilitated by fan-to-player contact, such as during autograph sessions.” (Handbook of Sports and Media, Sports, the Media, and the Construction of Race, 336). Nik mentioned wanted to meet Ebron during the Colts training camp at the beginning of the season and was disappointed when he was not able to.
Beyond the Game
We also discussed Fantasy Sports, particularly Fantasy Football. Nik mentioned being in several different Fantasy Football leagues, and that he spends a large amount of time checking them. He explained that he will often watch a certain football game, or check back on the score frequently, in order to see how well players from his fantasy team are playing. He mentioned that he won his Fantasy Football work league and placed second in the league with his family. Nik discussed that the typical buy-in for these fantasy leagues he plays in is typically around $100, and that it is a big deal to win them, not only for the monetary aspect but also for the sense of pride. When I asked him if he typically spends a lot of time discussing sports with his friends, he did hesitate to answer yes. He stated, “although we talk about other things, most of my friendships revolve around sports. Whether that’s us watching a game together, looking at each other’s fantasy scores, or even just texting or talking about a specific game or highlight, we focus on sports all the time.” Since I am with him frequently, this was interesting for me to hear. I know he checks sports apps quite frequently, and even gets notifications on his phone for anything football and basketball related.
Conclusion
To wrap up the interview, I asked Nik, “why are you a fan? Why do you spend so much of your time keeping up with sports?” His answer was simple, yet intricate. He answered, “I am a fan because I love the game. I can’t play football or basketball anymore, so I enjoy watching it and reliving some of my favorite memories. I keep up with it because it is my favorite hobby. I have invested so much time and money into becoming as educated as I can be about sports because I am passionate about it. I love how much the game changes, and I love being able to support my favorite teams and players.”
All in all, Nik is a die-hard and vested fan, especially when it comes to the Colts. He grew up watching them, and feels like he is a part of their organization. He still stays active and keeps up with other teams due to his fantasy leagues, as well as pure interest. Nik has spent so many years playing sports, and keeps up with them now just for fun, yet you are still able to see his competitive nature come out during games. He looks at it as something he can do with his father, and something that they have always done together. Nik has shown me that everyone grows up in different environments, and each person may define fandom in their own way, but each individual creates and develops their particular level of fandom throughout their own experiences, both in playing and consuming. Although we are similar in many ways, we differ in terms of our fan identities.